The Last Secret: A Novel

Written by Mary McGarry Morris

Narrated by Renee Raudman

Mary McGarry Morris has been hailed by the New York Times as "one of the most skillful writers at work in America today." In The Last Secret, she tells the riveting story of Nora Hammond, a woman blessed with the perfect life: a charming husband, two bright teenage children, a successful career in the family's newspaper business, and an esteemed role in the charity work of her New England town. But Nora's comfortable existence threatens to unravel when she learns of her husband's longtime affair-and when the specter of a sordid incident from her youth returns with terrifying force.

Confronted by shame and betrayal, Nora suddenly feels dangerously alone. With no one to turn to, she becomes easy prey to a ghost from her past-the cunning, relentless Eddie Hawkins.

A tautly told tale of psychological tension and chilling moral complexity, The Last Secret accelerates to a shattering conclusion as it explores the irreparable consequences of one family's crimes of the heart. The Last Secret burnishes Morris's reputation as one of our most prodigiously gifted writers.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tantor Media, Inc
• Release date: Jun 16, 2009
• ISBN: 9781400182152

Mary McGarry Morris

Mary McGarry Morris grew up in Vermont and now lives on the North Shore in Massachusetts. Her first novel, Vanished, was published in 1988 and was nominated for the National Book Award and the PEN/Faulkner Award. A Dangerous Woman (1991) was chosen by Time magazine as one of the “Five Best Novels of the Year” and was made into a motion picture starring Debra Winger, Barbara Hershey, and Gabriel Byrne. Songs in Ordinary Time (1995) was an Oprah’s Book Club selection, which propelled it to the top of the New York Times bestseller list for many weeks, and it was adapted for a TV movie starring Sissy Spacek and Beau Bridges. Morris’s other highly acclaimed works include the novels Fiona Range (2000), A Hole in the Universe (2004), The Lost Mother (2005), The Last Secret (2009), and Light from a Distant Star (2011), as well as the play MTL: The Insanity File.  

Reviews for The Last Secret

[nancy_lipetri · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This was a masterful telling of psychological drama that gets you flying through the final chapters to see if you guessed who is truly craziest and if you're right about a number of secrets. Like the currently popular "Big Little Lies," it's a complex unraveling of moral dilemmas. There are the seemingly perfect, privileged lives and the scandalous past and present betrayals. Guilt, shame and mental instability snake all through the story. I'll read more by this Nat'l Book Award author who has written Oprah Book Club selections.

[cathryngrant-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I couldn't put this down. The rich writing and Nora's view of the world captured me when the book opened on her 17-year-old self and never let go. If you like psychological suspense, I highly recommend it.

[christineellei · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Nora Trimble Hammond was living the perfect life. When a relationship between her husband and her best friend comes out into the open that illusion of perfection becomes the nightmare of trying to hold together a family that is slowly disintegrating. As if that isn't enough, a spectre from her past shows up at the same time reminding Nora of a week long interlude from her teens that she would just as soon not recall. Overall the story was a good one but I found the “voice” of the book annoyingly whiny, which distracted me from the story.

[txwildflower_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Another great book by this author! Starts off a little slow but ends in a dramatic climax. A woman makes a mistake in her youth and it comes back to haunt her in her marriage and disrupts her family. A page turner!